Cod Almighty | Diary

Replacing the management merry-go-round with a funicular train ride

8 July 2025

He has a deep love and thorough knowledge of football, and he radiates enthusiasm and positivity. But that is enough about the Grimsby Women's first team assistant head coach Carl Hullett (who Newbegin Diary got to know when he worked with Trafford FC), we ought to write about Dave Artell.

Whatever we may have expected when the 1878 Partnership took over the club, one thing we have learnt is that the only thing they gamble on is their judgement. They have a vision of how a 21st century professional sports club should operate, their recruitment flows from that vision, and their recruits are given time to get results.

Artell said when he joined us that one of the job's attractions was that he was only part of the plan, not its sum total. He is a good fit for the club's ethos and now he has a contract keeping him at Blundell Park until 2028. We can speculate whether that is a good or a bad thing, but decisions won't be made on the whim of a one-off battering, or an arbitrary rule about how many defeats a manager can be allowed before he is placed under threat.

Modern football is one part sport and one part soap opera. At Town, we'll just have to watch Coronation Street on repeat. If last season's sense of endeavour is turned into achievement the excitement of Saturday afternoons will more than make up for the absence of drama.